Double Chocolate Gelato Recipe

I didn’t get a chance to try her recipe out yet but it was the inspiration behind the Double Chocolate Gelato I made.

I pulled my copy of the William-Somono Ice Cream and Sorbets off my bookshelf and started flipping through it. When I came to the recipe page for the Double Chocolate Gelato I knew I was going to make it. I conveniently had all of the ingredients on hand.

As I read the recipe my heart sank as I realized the base of the recipe called for making a custard. Stirring hot milk into a bowl of egg yolks is something I had been avoiding for a long time. Visions of scrambled eggs danced in my head.

But by then I had pulled out all the ingredients and lined them up on my counter. Could I do this? As I thought about it I realized how silly I was being. Come on…… I made homemade yogurt in a slower cooker. If I could do that I could do anything. The gelato recipe looked really simple and I realized this would be the perfect time for me to get over my fear of custard making.

If things turned ugly I was only out 5 egg yolks, 2 cups of milk, some sugar and a couple of tablespoons of corn syrup.

I put the milk in a saucepan and brought it to a simmer. Once it began to simmer I removed it from the heat and mixed the egg yolks, sugar and corn syrup in a metal bowl.

Now comes the fun part. It was time to mixed the hot milk into the egg yolk and sugar mixture. Now I would find out if I was capable of making a custard. And if I was then I could surely make a curd??? (Lemon curd is another recipe I have steered clear of for years)Let’s see.

The book tells you to take a kitchen towel and form it into a circle so your bowl will nestle down into the towel and not slip and slid around as you are stirring the hot milk into the egg mixture.

Do not try this alone!

I don’t know who at the William-Somona kitchens came up with this idea but it did not work for me in my home kitchen.

I had my daughter hold the bowl as I slowly poured the warm milk into the egg mixture with one hand and stirred with the other. Slowly I drizzled the hot milk and stirred. My eyes were riveted to the bowl. I couldn’t believe it. No scrambled eggs. Woo Hoo! Custard success!!

Sorry no picture of that step.

Next strain the custard just in case there are any lumps. Now you get to add the good stuff!

Chopped Bittersweet Chocolate

Cocoa Powder

Mix it all together good and put the bowl in the frigde for about an hour to cool. After the hour or whenever you are ready put it into your ice cream maker follow your ice cream makers directions and freeze.

Although this recipe says it serves six I’m not sure how big of a serving they are talking about. I served one ice cream scoop for six servings to the kids. With my measurements with an ice cream scoop I got about 6 1/2 ice cream scoops full. Keep this in mind if you are planning to serve as dessert. I have a large family. If you’re only planning on serving two adults this would be plenty.

Dark Chocolate Gelato

Serve this gelato right out of the machine to highlight its ultra-creamy texture.

Pour the milk into a medium sized, heavy sauce pan. Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Remove from heat.

In a metal bowl, whisk together the eggs yolks, sugar and corn syrup until blended.

Form a kitchen towel into a ring and place the bowl on top to prevent it from moving.

(This did not work well for me so I had my daughter hold the bowl as I slowly poured the hot milk into the egg mixture.)Gradually pour the hot milk into the yolk mixture, whisking constantly.
Return the mixture to the same saucepan and place over medium-low heat.Cook, stirring slowly and continuously with a wooden spatula, until the custard thickens and leaves a path on the back of the spatula when a finger is drawn across it, about 6 minutes, do not allow to boil.This took more like 15 minutes on my electric stove top.Pour the custard through a medium mesh sieve set over a clean metal bowl.

Add the chocolate and cocoa and stir until the chocolate melts. Refrigerate until cold, about 1 hour.

Transfer the custard to an ice cream maker and process according to the manufacturers instructions.

For the best texture serve the gelato immediately. Or transfer to a container, cover and freeze until firm, at least 4 hours or up to three days.

(Note: the longer freezing results in a texture more like that of ice cream.)

The reason why it didn't make much is because you were only using 2 cups of liquid. If you wanted more gelato you would need to use more milk and/or cream…at least 2 cups of milk with 1.5 cups of light cream. That would have brought you up to 1 quart after churning.